GOTHENBURG, Sweden: EU leaders warned British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday that the “clock is ticking” to make Brexit concessions and it is increasingly likely talks will fail to move on to the next phase in December.
Britain’s impending split threatened to overshadow an EU summit in the Swedish port city of Gothenburg that was meant to focus on improving social standards and seeing off the threat of populism in the post-Brexit future.
May expressed hopes the bloc would respond “positively” after she met several leaders on the sidelines, but they all warned that time was running out to settle the key divorce issues, and unlock negotiations next month on a trade deal and transition period.
“The clock is ticking. I hope that we will be able to come to an agreement as far as the divorce is concerned at the December council (summit) but work has still to be done,” European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned last week that Britain had just two weeks to meet the bloc’s conditions on its divorce bill, citizens’ rights and the Irish border if it wanted an agreement.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar struck a firm line, saying Dublin’s demands that Brexit should create no “hard border” between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland must be “written down” in the conclusions of the first phase.
“If we have to wait until the new year, or if we have to wait for further concessions, so be it,” Varadkar told reporters before having breakfast with May.
“It’s 18 months since the referendum, it’s 10 years since people who wanted a referendum started agitating for one, sometimes it doesn’t seem like they’ve thought all this through,” he added.
May said Britain would “honor our commitments” on the exit bill, as she promised in a speech in Florence in September, and urged the bloc to start trade talks now.
“I look forward to the European Union responding positively to that so we can move forward together and ensure that we can get the best possible arrangements for the future,” May said.
British media reports have suggested May could be ready to double the UK’s €20 billion offer on the exit bill in a bid to clear what has been the most difficult hurdles in talks so far. The EU says the bill is around €60 billion.
She will also meet European Council President Donald Tusk, with Tusk set to warn her that opening the next phase “is not a given, will require more work and that time is short,” an EU source told AFP.
Failure to reach a deal in December would push back a decision until February or March, leaving little time for trade talks before Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019.
May’s government is still pressing for a quick transition to future EU-British ties while shrugging off EU pressure on the divorce terms.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in Dublin on Friday that doing so would help solve the Irish issue, while Barnier’s British negotiating counterpart David Davis called on the EU to compromise across the board.
“Surprise, surprise: nothing comes for nothing in this world,” Davis told the BBC in Gothenburg, adding that various EU countries “can see there are big, big benefits in the future deal that we’re talking about.”
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who also held talks with May, said it was “very dificult to say” whether a deal was possible in December and added that London “needs to clarify what they mean about the financial responsibility.”
But Lofven said he also wanted to keep the focus on the so-called “social summit” in Sweden, which is the first step in a two-year reform drive to show the bloc can survive after Brexit and other setbacks, by tackling the economic inequalities fueling populism.
EU leaders are looking to reboot the union based on plans by France’s new president Emmanuel Macron and by Juncker.
“This is absolutely crucial for EU’s legitimacy,” Lofven told reporters at the meeting, the bloc’s first social summit since one in 1997 in Luxembourg.
Most of the EU’s 28 national leaders attending with the exception of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the bloc’s economic and political lodestar, who is in Berlin for talks on a new governing coalition.
Berlin said she fully supports the meeting’s goals, which will be enshrined in a European Pillar of Social Rights signed by key figures on Friday.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite shrugged off suggestions the Gothenburg summit would be hijacked by the Brexit issue, quipping “No, at least not this one.”
EU warns May ‘clock ticking’ for December Brexit deal
EU warns May ‘clock ticking’ for December Brexit deal
China says top military official Miao Hua suspended, under investigation
- Latest senior apparatchik to fall in a sweeping crackdown on graft in the country’s armed force
- Unconfirmed reports say defense minister Dong Jun was also placed under investigation for corruption
BEIJING: China said Thursday that top military official Miao Hua had been removed from office and was suspected of “serious violations of discipline,” the latest senior apparatchik to fall in a sweeping crackdown on graft in the country’s armed forces.
The ruling Chinese Communist Party “has decided to suspend Miao Hua from duty pending investigation,” Wu Qian, spokesman of China’s Ministry of Defense, told a press briefing.
Wu did not provide further details about the charges against Admiral Miao, a member of Beijing’s powerful Central Military Commission.
But “serious violations of discipline” are commonly used by officials in China as a euphemism for corruption.
The announcement follows reports, unconfirmed by Beijing, that Defense Minister Dong Jun has been placed under investigation for corruption.
If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to be probed for graft.
India’s parliament suspended temporarily after row over allegations against Adani group
- The problem is that India’s states are unprepared for the rapid rise in renewable generating capacity, lack adequate transmission infrastructure and storage
NEW DELHI: Both houses of Indian parliament were suspended temporarily on Thursday within minutes of opening as opposition lawmakers disrupted proceedings for the third day this week seeking a discussion on allegations against the Adani Group.
US authorities have accused Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and managing director of Adani Green, Vneet S. Jaain, of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian solar power supply contracts, and misleading US investors during fund raises there.
“We want a discussion on this in parliament. It is going to be the third day that we are demanding a reply from the prime minister” on the Adani issue, Manickam Tagore, a lawmaker from the main opposition Congress party, which has been leading the protests against the business group, told news agency ANI.
Many of India’s opposition parties accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of favoring Adani and blocking investigations against him in India, accusations both have denied.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been a vocal critic of Adani, said Gautam Adani, 62, should be arrested.
While the government has not made any comment on the indictment, Modi’s BJP has said it had no reason to defend Adani, adding that the party was not against industrialists and considered them partners in nation-building efforts.
“Let him defend himself,” BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said on Tuesday, adding that the law would take its course.
Landslides in Indonesia’s Sumatra kill at least 27, rescuers search for missing
- Torrential rain in the province since last week had caused flash floods and landslides in four different districts
- Extreme weather is expected in Indonesia toward the end of 2024, as the La Nina phenomenon increases rainfalls across the tropical archipelago
JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers are searching for passengers trapped in a minibus buried in mud after flash floods and landslides hit several locations in North Sumatra province, killing at least 27, an official said on Thursday.
Torrential rain in the province since last week had caused flash floods and landslides in four different districts, Indonesia’s disaster agency has said.
A landslide in a village in Deli Serdang on Wednesday killed seven and injured 20, Hadi Wahyudi, North Sumatra police spokesperson told Reuters.
Rescuers were looking for missing people, including those trapped in a minibus and other vehicles on a hilly interprovince road hit by a mudslide, he said, adding he could not give an estimate for the number of affected people.
In other places, rescuers have found 20 dead during a search that started over the weekend. They are still searching for two missing.
“Today, we’re focusing our search to find missing people and clearing the roads affected by the landslides,” said Hadi, adding excavators were deployed.
The landslides and flash floods damaged houses, mosques, and rice fields.
Heavy rains also triggered floods in the provincial capital of Medan, forcing a delay in votes for a regional election in some polling stations.
Extreme weather is expected in Indonesia toward the end of 2024, as the La Nina phenomenon increases rainfalls across the tropical archipelago, the country’s weather agency has warned.
The Australian Senate debates the world’s first social media ban for children under 16
- The bill that would make social media platforms liable for fines of up to $33 million for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts
MELBOURNE: The Australian Senate was debating a ban on children younger than 16 years old from social media Thursday after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported the age restriction.
The bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.
It is likely to be passed by the Senate on Thursday, the Parliament’s final session for the year and potentially the last before elections, which are due within months.
The major parties’ support for the ban all but guarantees the legislation will become law. But many child welfare and mental health advocates are concerned about unintended consequences.
Unaligned Sen. Jacqui Lambie complained about the limited amount of time the government gave the Senate to debate the age restriction, which she described as “undercooked.”
“I thought this was a good idea. A lot of people out there thought it was a good idea until we looked at the detail and, let’s be honest, there’s no detail,” Lambie told the Senate.
Opposition Sen. Maria Kovacic said the bill was not radical but necessary.
“The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.
“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she added.
Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minor Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.
“This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off,” Shoebridge told the Senate.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly carried the bill 102 votes to 13.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland urged senators to pass the bill which she said reflected the Australian community’s view.
“The ... government is on the side of supporting parents and protecting young people,” Rowland told the House.
Once the legislation becomes law, the platforms would have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.
The platforms complained that the law would be unworkable, and urged the Senate to delay the vote until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how young children could be excluded.
Critics argue the government is attempting to convince parents it is protecting their children ahead of general elections due by May. The government hopes that voters will reward it for responding to parents’ concerns about their children’s addiction to social media. Some argue the legislation could cause more harm than it prevents.
Criticisms include that the legislation was rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, is ineffective, poses privacy risks for all users, and undermines parental authority to make decisions for their children.
Opponents of the bill also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, drive them to the dark web, discourage children too young for social media to report harm and reduce incentives for platforms to improve online safety.
Explosions heard in Ukraine’s Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi – media reports
- Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper urged residents to stay in shelter in a message on the Telegram app
Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa and the city of Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine on Thursday morning amid reports of a Russian cruise missile attack, Ukrainian news outlet Zerkalo Tyzhnya and other local media reported.
Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper urged residents to stay in shelter in a message on the Telegram app.
